UofT AstroTour: Cold out there, eh? The Climates of Alien Worlds
A central question for humanity has long been “are we alone, and what is our place in the universe?” This fundamentally human question has motivated much of astronomy. The recent discovery of a plethora of exoplanets has raised the tantalizing possibility that we might start to answer that question. Searching for alien communications and chemical signatures of life represent two approaches to answering that question–but a third option also exists. Studying the climates of exoplanets and looking for surface conditions similar to those on Earth is a promising way of assessing habitability. In this talk, we will explore both the possibilities and complexities of studying alien climates, and in the process perhaps learn something about ourselves.
About the Speaker
Adiv Paradise hails from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, where he grew up surrounded by nearly-Canadian accents, nearly-Canadian winters, and nearly-Canadian culture. After an undergraduate degree in physics and astrophysics, Adiv spent a summer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico working on numerical algorithms, then took a year off to continue that work back home in Minneapolis. He finally realized he should move to Canada and is now in his 3rd year of his PhD here at the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics. He studies the climates of habitable exoplanets with Dr. Kristen Menou, with the aim of understanding them well enough to observe them. In his scant spare time, he enjoys cooking and keeping fish.
The U of T Astronomy Public Tour, or AstroTour, is a monthly event operated by the graduate students of the U of T Astronomy Department. The Tour features a public lecture by a member of the Department on topics ranging from their research to great moments in astronomical history. Following the lecture, tour-goers can peer at the night sky through the Department’s balcony and dome telescopes, or watch a planetarium show run live by astronomer. Admission to the tour is free. Seating for the lecture is on a first-come, first-served basis (doors open ten minutes before the start of the lecture), and the telescope observing is walk-in.
Who can attend: Everyone
Fee: Free
Reservations: Only required for Planetarium Shows
Organized by: Graduate Astronomy Students Association. The AstroTours are generously financed by the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Location: University of Toronto, McLennan Physical Laboratories (MP 203), 60 St George St., Toronto, ON M5S 1A7